It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Friday, January 30th. I’m Mac Watson.
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Things got heated at Rep. Harriet Hageman's town hall in Thermopolis on Thursday. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that most people just yelled at each other rather than yelling at Hageman.
“There was a little bit of like, jeering, groaning, shouting at Representative Hageman. But there were a lot the two sides of the room really took, really jeered and attacked each other, there would be someone who just, just attacks Hagaman like, ‘How dare you this? How dare you that?’ And the people on the other side of the room, you know, at the Antique piano, were like, ask a question and let it and move on, so the rest of us can get in here. And then this happened a few times, and one time, a guy stormed out, you know, on his cane, and the people on the other side of the room said, ‘Get the hell out of here!’ She gave measured responses to a lot of the accusations against her, but she was not afraid to tangle with people and engage in a way that's very reminiscent of her trial lawyer history.”
Cowboy State Daily did ask the Representative if she has a solution for the lack of transparency among federal policing agencies working on the Wind River Indian Reservation. Hageman replied she has been working toward establishing “economic development” and “safety and security” in tribal country.
Read the full story HERE.
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Protesters surrounded ICE vehicles at the Four Points Sheraton hotel in Rock Springs and prevented officers from leaving the hotel parking lot on Thursday. Cowboy State Daily’s Justin George reports that Rock Springs police responded to help the federal officers, who left town after police removed the blockade.
“They were eating at the time, actually, when people found out that ICE officers were there, they gathered in the parking lot. Looked to be a small group, from videos that I could say a very small group, but apparently that they would try to block officers from leaving in their SUVs, and may have blocked the exits as well. So these officers were trying to leave Rock Springs. Police came upon request from ice and helped sort of clear the path. And the statement from police said the ICE agents were trying to get out of town so they were not, apparently, at that time, looking to do any sort of enforcement actions or anything in Rock Springs. They were just looking to get out of town.”
The standoff was just the latest clash between ICE and protesters taking place in the nation with tensions at all-time highs since federal officers shot and killed two protesters in Minnesota this month including 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti on Saturday.
Read the full story HERE.
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In three days, Teton County Search and Rescue responded to three snowmobiling incidents. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that there have been two fatalities, both involving snowmobiles that collided with trees.
“Teton County Search and Rescue has responded to four incidents that involve fatalities this year, and two of those fatalities occurred within a few days of each other. We don't have a lot of specifics at this point, I know a lot of people are answering questions. All we know is that the common thread between the two incidents is that the people died after sustaining injuries from hitting a tree with a snowmobile while they were out on a snowmobiling tour. And I got that confirmed with the Teton county coroner. So we don't know what other extraneous circumstances might have contributed to that, but the people I spoke to said that it's not the best year for snowmobiling in terms of the snow pack, because there's not a lot of fresh, loose snow, which is what you want for snowmobiling. And a lot of people can underestimate the power of snow machines in general. They've increased in their capability and reliability exponentially in the last 20 years.”
Will Mook, co-owner of The Mountain Riding Lab in Jackson, is an experienced snowmobiler. He tells Cowboy State Daily that less-than-perfect snow and heavy traffic might be subtly encouraging people to seek out pristine and more hazardous routes.
Read the full story HERE.
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Rock Springs City Councilman Rick Milonas says the new city flag, designed by a 17-year-old student, is a “terrible fit for the community.” Cowboy State Daily’s Kate Meadows reports that Councilman Milonas was the only dissenting vote as the city council adopted the new flag in an 8-1 vote.
“Mayor Max Mickelson of Rock Springs put out a call for a flag contest open to grades K through 12. He asked students to submit artwork for a flag, for a city flag. He said, ‘Rock Springs has never had a city flag.’ This was a good way to engage the youth of the community, to really show them that their voice matters…One Councilman said on Facebook that the flag resembles the flag of Somalia, and said it looked like it belonged in a third world country. He also called the flag ‘butt ugly.’”
Last fall, Rock Springs students were invited to design a new city flag that captured the theme, “Many Cultures, One Community: Rock Springs Together.”
Read the full story HERE.
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I’ll be back with more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this.
Cowboy State Daily news continues now…
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Admitting he stabbed a 14-year-old boy in the back last August during a brawl north of Riverton, Alejandro Behan pleaded guilty Thursday to second-degree murder in a Lander courtroom. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that the 22-year old admitted to the attack.
“He's accused of stabbing a 14 year old in the back during a big brawl. And he said, In court, ‘I stabbed a guy in the back.’ He said he knew it could kill him, and that it was part of a big fight where he believed knives would be present…There was some verbal sparring over Snapchat ahead of that, and, like, gossip, like, there's going to be a fight this place, and this is on our farm road, so it's close to a prison farm and next to a ranch house.”
The next step for Behan, of Riverton, is a sentencing hearing in early April. The date has not been set.
Read the full story HERE.
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Wyoming tourism leaders are hailing the ProRodeo Hall of Fame's vote to move from Colorado to Cheyenne as a game-changer for the industry. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that leaders are projecting a $250 million dollar economic impact over 10 years while boosting rodeo culture across the state.
“Talked with Dominic Bravo about that. He's the Office of Tourism head, the new guy…He was saying that he could see just the presence kind of prompting people to come up with events, kind of integrated across communities, or coordinated across the state with various communities. And you know, you've got rodeo in just about every community in Wyoming. Cody night rodeo. Dubois this rodeo every Friday night. Sheridan has the WYO Rodeo…with a year round destination that the PRCA is envisioning here, it's not just the Hall of Fame, the headquarters, it was a cultural shopping district, a year round destination. Then you add in, you know, all the other things Cheyenne has been doing.”
Retired bullfighter Marc Gill tells Cowboy State Daily that previously the Hall of Fame was dependent on “happenstance traffic,” and attracted around 35,000 visitors annually in Colorado, but when it’s sitting at a cross-country intersection like I-80 and I-25, he believes that foot traffic is going to go up. Way up.
Read the full story HERE.
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Students at the University of Wyoming say they aren't waiting for the Legislature to finalize its budget before fighting back against cuts they worry could slash funding by 15%. Cowboy State Daily’s David Madison reports that they say the cuts will hurt UW's ability to generate future revenue for Wyoming.
“They're saying, ‘Why ruin a good thing?’ Over the decades, the state has invested, you know, a significant amount in making this a world class university, why throw it all away? And what they want to point out is not so much an alternative plan, but just the effects of these cuts, that it's not just 40 million off the top that has a knock-on effect. You're going to scare away the best professors who bring in lots of grant money. You're going to scare away the best students…the University of Wyoming is putting out great research that turns into jobs. It's turning out great teachers who go back to their communities and teach the next generation. It really is a rallying cry among students and faculty saying this is uncalled for.”
Legislators on the Joint Appropriations Committee voted Jan. 13 to cut $40 million from UW's block grant — roughly 11% of what the university receives from the state.
Read the full story HERE.
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The new crop of grizzly cubs that will emerge this spring to the delight of visitors in Yellowstone have likely already been born, researchers say. Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that a long-term study nailed down January as the month when most grizzly cubs in Yellowstone are born.
“Researchers have had a general idea of when grizzly cubs are actually born…They've done some extensive research in Yellowstone National Park and some other locations, and they kind of narrowed it down to a Yellowstone it seems like January is a month cup…What they did is they outfitted some of the female bears with these motion sensing callers, because they found, from observing captive bears that right after the moment of birth…a mother bear will sit up and lick herself and lick the cubs clean, and so that little spike in activity would register on for on the motion sensing callers, and they go that that's when it's happening, that's when they're giving birth. And it's kind of a sweet spot timing where they're not being born so early when spring comes.”
Grizzly expert Cecily Costello tells Cowboy State Daily that previously, biologists had to make assumptions about bear birth dates across a broad timeframe.
Read the full story HERE.
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And that’s today’s news. Get your free digital subscription to Wyoming's only statewide newspaper by hitting the Daily Newsletter button on Cowboy State Daily Dot Com - and you can watch this newscast every day by clicking Subscribe on our YouTube channel, or listen to us on your favorite podcast app. Thanks for watching - I’m Mac Watson, for Cowboy State Daily.
